The Chinese mainland reported 130 new cases of people who were found with no symptoms but tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday, with two of them starting to show symptoms later on, the Chinese National Health Commission (NHC) said on Wednesday, the first day the country started to update information on the number of asymptomatic carriers on a daily basis.
There are currently a total of 1,367 silent coronavirus carriers found in China, according to the NHC.
Asymptomatic virus carriers have become a major concern among the public along with the reopening of Hubei since March 25, which was the hardest-hit by COVID-19 in China and shut down for nearly two months. Several such cases have been reported across China causing many places to require a second round of health checks on those traveling from Hubei even if they have green QR health codes that allow them to move freely around the country.
Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, reported an asymptomatic virus carrier on Tuesday. The new case is also a returnee from Hubei, according to the local health authority.
Hubei reported 47 new asymptomatic coronavirus carriers on Tuesday, with 982 cases under medical observation, according to local health authority.
Northwest China's Gansu Province on Tuesday launched a round of thorough provincial screening on people returning from Hubei with green codes, requiring two consecutive negative results from nucleic acid tests for coronavirus before letting them move freely around the province. The two tests have to be conducted with a seven-day interval.
The move came after a man surnamed Hu, who drove from Xianning, Hubei, to Gansu a week ago with a green code, was tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday during a health check after entering Gansu. In total, 49 people who had close contact with Hu have been tracked down.
Before the case in Gansu, another Hubei resident with a green code, a man surnamed Tang, was also discovered to be infected with coronavirus on March 26 in Huizhou, South China's Guangdong Province. Tang was identified as an asymptomatic carrier, according to the local health authority.
